Journal

If you could learn to effortlessly stretch the available time and the work quality of one hour to deliver twice its normal yield every day.

Would you use that skill?

Why?

When I worked in a London media business it was the 1980s and 90s. The world was becoming more VUCA by the day!

Alan Watkins, the heart doctor turned world class executive coach now describes this world as more volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous. It was becoming so then and it is more so today!

But it was during the eighties and nineties that I discovered The Golden Hours and I’ve been living my life in them, every day since.

At that time in my career and at that time in the world, work was king for me! I existed in an action culture where running was the norm for walking and quiet time was often pretty noisy. At that time, making money meant much more to me than it ever should have. I existed in a hectic place and I carried both its pace and its intensity wherever I travelled to build a media business in the UK, Ireland ,Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand….

Same pace…. Day and night!

What?

It was while I was travelling through time zones, either to the East on business or to the West to the US on vacations, that I found The Golden Hours. And like a lot of great discoveries, I didn’t recognise them as such, or understand their immense value for some time.

The Golden Hours exist where time is stretched and work flows freely. These hours are calm, cool, quiet and peaceful. They are free from hassle and interruption. Free from hustle and bustle, noise pollution and traffic, people and pagers, phones or computers.

The difficulty is… just like me, most people can’t see them as they’re hidden in plain sight and are existing directly under your nose. For me they begin at 05.00 because that’s the time I now choose to wake. They stretch from then, all the way to 09.00, when the rest of the world (Officially) starts work.

Where

At five am there’s usually only me around. Indoors or out.

No family members, no neighbours, no colleagues or clients … Just me!

Granted, once I move outside, there are a few people awake, but they number just a fraction of those that will surface for a nine o’clock start. There is less noise, less traffic, less pollution, less distraction, less interference generally.

Getting out of doors is essential at this time….where you can see green or blue (Trees and grass or water) not grey (Concrete)

When

As I awake at 05.00, I feel grateful for this time to myself. It appears to me that this is a period that most people miss out on completely, or they sacrifice it for more sleep as the priorities of the working day take over. Ironically, for me, this is the most important part of the day, as once this part is in place, everything else seems to flow easily.

I have outlined the contents of my golden hours for you to consider. This is not meant to be ”The way” to begin your days. It is meant to be “One way” of beginning them! Apart from five to six am much of this is flexible. Just imagine having near perfect conditions for these activities!

If you want to learn how… for more information on Golden Hours, drop me a line on LinkedIn or contact me at The Aspiration Company

The Golden Hours Workshops are now available in The UK, Ireland and Europe.

5 am

Wake

Meditate

Exercise (Mental and Physical) Outdoors.

Shower

Breakfast

6 am

Learn

Plan

Travel

Create

Listen

Visualise

7 am

Organise

Problem solve

Priority work-based activity

Fresh air break Outdoors.

Handle priorities

Set goals

8 am

Make calls

Take calls

Handle mail

Prepare for the 9 to 5 people

9 am…… OK! It’s time to go to work!

I do realise that not everyone can arrange their daily life to contain four golden hours. It’s just that the time I spend at this part of each day works best for me. If your own early mornings are limited and restricted by forces outside of your control, just try working with one golden hour which you create for yourself at the very start of your day, then see how it goes.

Once you’ve tried this for a month, I have a feeling you’ll take more control over the twenty-three hours that remain!

If you want to learn how to utilise the Golden Hours, drop me a line on LinkedIn or contact me at The Aspiration Company